OCR a scanned PDF

Turn a scanned PDF into a searchable one. FileAlloy runs OCR through a fast, private API that adds a selectable text layer under your scan without changing how it looks: send the file, get a searchable PDF back. Files are processed in memory and never stored, and there is a free tier to start.

Files are processed in memory and never stored.

How to use OCR a scanned PDF

Get a free API key Create an account at app.filealloy.com and generate a key. The free plan is enough to start.
POST your scanned PDF Send the file to /v1/ocr with your key and an optional language code (defaults to English).
Get a searchable PDF A PDF with a real, selectable text layer comes straight back in the response.

Why FileAlloy

Searchable output

Adds a text layer under the scan, so the PDF becomes searchable and copy-pasteable without changing how it looks.

Many languages

Recognises English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, Dutch, Hindi, Arabic, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and more, combinable.

Scans stay private

The image is processed in memory and cleared once the searchable PDF is returned, never written to disk.

Your servers, not a cloud model

Recognition runs on our own EU infrastructure rather than a third-party service, so results are consistent and private.

Do it at scale with the API

Making scanned document uploads searchable in your product? The same operation is a single call to /v1/ocr, so you can batch and automate it with no browser.

curl -X POST https://api.filealloy.com/v1/ocr \
  -H "X-API-Key: fa_live_your_key" \
  -F "file=@scanned.pdf" \
  -F "lang=eng" \
  -o searchable.pdf

Get an API key

Frequently asked questions

What does OCR do to my PDF?

It reads the text in your scanned images and adds an invisible, selectable text layer, turning a picture of a document into a searchable PDF.

Which languages are supported?

English, Portuguese, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Hindi, Indonesian, Arabic, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese. Combine them with a plus, for example eng+fra.

Are my files stored?

No. Files are processed in memory and deleted immediately after the response. Nothing is written to disk or logs.

What is the endpoint?

POST /v1/ocr with the PDF as multipart form data and an optional lang field.

Can I then convert to Word or extract text?

Yes. After OCR the PDF has a text layer, so PDF to Word and PDF to text both work on it.

Is there a free option?

Yes. The free plan includes a monthly request quota, with sub-cent pricing above it.